Imperial Biscotti Break
Evil Twin Brewing

 

Pours out of the can a midnight black-brown, no light passes through it. A nice 2 fingers of tan head with great retention. Smells of cocoa, coffee, and roasty malts. Taste follows the nose fairly well with the coffee being the predominant flavor and the rich mouth feel is like velvet. The beer has a perfect carbonation for the style that achieves this sensation. I'm really glad I bought a four pack!

In this rendition, it's a pint can emptied into a clear Imperial pint glass. The entire contents fit almost perfectly, as there's no extraordinary foam, just a modest and enduring dark biege head. The color of the liquid is the standard black coffee brown, no more, no less. Although the aroma is less than pungent, there is some roasted barley to be had, but the almond and vanilla additions just don't impress the nose. But, what a wonderful drink! There's the sweet malt of a great stout upfront, delivered within an incredibly rich body. Now the nuances: There's coffee, but it's not overly bitter, nor the dominating taste it can be, even in good coffee stouts. The vanilla only slightly sweetens the brew, but contributes as an extra layer, not a major taste emphasis. Almond inclusion adds body and another taste layer, without changing the overall and likely adds even more body to a brew certainly not lacking thereof. It's hard pressed to find a richer bodied stout than this one. Maybe there's not great glass lacing, but other than that, this is one of the best 10+% ABV brews out there. The alcohol is warming for sure, but not harsh and barely noticeable to taste. This is a great member of its style.

L: Poured from a pint can into a sniffer - inky jet black pour with a huge head risen. About 3 fingers length to be exact.
S: Getting predominant aromas for vanilla, along side with molasses, slight roasty coffee, chocolate and malt aromas. Not getting much of the almond in this.
T: Getting a complexed mix of vanilla, chocolate, roasty coffee. You can taste the biscuit more so near the after taste of it all. Getting some after tastes of velvet as well. Almost similar to a chili brewed stout after taste to this.
F: Heavy bodied, alcohol hides very well. Sipper but easy to sip. The taste is so smooth and tasty, it reminds me of a stout I had that had chili peppers brewed into it.
O: This is a great stout for the price given. Honestly it's complexed but is very rich and easy to drink. This one I'll be buying again in the near future.

I tried a 10oz glass of this beer off the tapper at Dry Ground Brewing as a guest tap in Paducah, Kentucky. It poured an opaque dark with thin tan head that did not leave much lace. The scent had dark chocolate and gram cracker notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to sip. There was dark chocolate roast malt and biscotti cookie presence. The mouthfeel was fuller in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a solid beer.

 

Pours a dark brown with a small tan cap and light lacing.

Smells of coffee, booze and toasted malt.

Tastes of sweet, toasted malt, bitter coffee and a bit of caramel and vanilla. The finish is slightly bitter and very boozy warm.

This is a powerful, well made, not overly complicated, not too cloy sipper. My first pour from the can was too cold in retrospect. This brew gets better as it warms.



Medium heavy body with light carbonation. Lush and syrupy mouthfeel.

 

 

Really good imperial stout! Pronounced coffee smell and taste, but not overpowering in regard to either. Really nice and balanced vanilla and almond flavor!

 

 

 

 

Seconds after drinking, taste biscotti soaked in coffee. Not too sweet, all features fit stout profile. Excellent.

Pours a pitch black with 2 fingers of mocha foam. Sheets of lacing reduce to a thin ring. Nice oily legs on this one. Nose is bitter coffee, chocolate, earth, and biscuit. Taste follows suit with the addition of some nutty notes and Vanilla. Feel is oily, smooth, and quite full. Another good one from Evil Twin.

 

You can smell and taste the biscotti so good not overly winey like old coffee that some imperials have. Very smooth velvety mouth feel. I don't pour for head so i can't speak to that. You could wash down a donut or cinnamon roll with this my favorite stout right now.

 

EvilTwin does a nice job with this one. Don’t slap IBB with the “another gimmicky pastry stout” label. This beer is complex and well balanced. Bakers chocolate, dark coffee beans, and roasted malts on the palette, finishing with a rich nutty earthiness and just a tinge of vanilla. Pick one up if you see it in the local shop!

 

-jet tap pour with a thin, tan cap of fine foam and an aroma of anisette and toasted malt.
The flavor matches the nose and the coffee-like bitterness tempers the anisette sweetness quite well.
This is very well executed.

Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has generous coffee and chocolate hints
The taste follows the nose with a well balanced coffee and chocolate flavor
A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
A great Imperial Stout

 

 

Presentation: 16 oz. can with a batch number on the bottom but no dates. Served in a tulip glass.

Appearance: The tan, one and a half finger head stays around for a bit and leaves behind a lot of lacing that covers the entire glass. It's a deep, black color.

Smell: It's a strong, sweet aroma at first of molasses, brown sugar, vanilla and even raisins. There's also some coffee in there as well as honey roasted almonds.

Taste: It's a warm flavor of heavily toasted bread, coffee and a touch of roasted nuts in the aftertaste. It's mostly bitter all around with not much sweetness, if any, coming though. 

Mouthfeel: It's quite thick and moderately smooth but there's a medium high carbonation crispness in there too that's very noticeable. 

Overall: A delicious beer with a lot of character and complexity. The texture is not bad, exactly, but it has a lively carbonation that's not expected for the style. It doesn't ruing the beer but it would be better served by a smoother, lower carbonation mouthfeel.

About as dark as can be with an average size tan head. Very sweet fragrance: chocolate, brown sugar, coffee & roasted malt. Sweet but not as much as expected. Very complex & delicious flavor: chocolate, coffee, vanilla, brown sugar, rich & complex roaster malt flavors, mild earthyness & a fair amount of alcohol. Mild mouth & stomach heat with adequate carbonation. Medium viscosity. Evil Twin makes some outstanding beers & this is one of them.

 

 

 

 

Canned 11/16/20

You know it's odd with this one. I was intrigued when I saw it on the shelf so I said fuck it and just picked it up without much thought. I figured it was a fun, but ultimately throwaway pastry stout. It is only now that I come to review it that I realize it's actually held in pretty high regard here. Hopefully then I'll be getting something that's less gimmicky than I expected

Pours completely pitch black with 2 fingers of dark khaki head that fades to a cap and leaves spotty lacing

This definitely has a defined sweetness in the nose, but it's hidden behind a pretty substantial roast. I'm picking up on aromas of chewy fudge, roasty espresso, creamy vanilla, earthy whiskey (weird bc it's not barrel aged), and some general nuttiness

There is also an incredible balance taste-wise between the dessert aspects and the straight up roasty stout notes. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting toasted almond, roasted malt, lightly acidic coffee, milk chocolate, and rich vanilla. The swallow sweetens up a bit, bringing notes of fudge, soft oak, rich vanilla, dry roasted peanut, and roasted malt

A medium full body pairs with mild tingly carbonation, resulting in a super silky beer that never feels bogged down by the abv or the sweetness. Finishes mostly dry with a sweetness that slowly fades

For a non-BA imperial stout, this had a ton of complexity. Even with what some might consider "unnecessary adjuncts", this beer impressed me quite a bit

 

 

 

 

 

Dark color, small, and light colored head. Smells of espresso and coco, light alcohol. Feels very light and carbonated, not like typical stout. Flavor is strong to start, then eases into a nice biscotti after taste.